Question

a) Briefly establish the differences and/or similarities between Cyber Crime and Cyber Ethics.

b) Despite the fact that Ethics enables people correctly organize their actions in life, there are still reasons why humans act unethically. Discuss any five of such reasons.

c) There is quite a number of approaches to the study of ethical issues. With clear illustrations, compare two of such approaches.

Answer 1

a)Differences and/or similarities between Cyber Crime and Cyber Ethics

• cyber crime: A cyber-crime is a crime which involves computer and network.This is becoming a growing threat to society and is caused by criminals or irresponsible action of individuals who are exploiting the widespread use of Internet. It presents a major challenge to the ethical use of information technologies. Cyber-crime also poses threats to the integrity, safety and survival of most business systems.
• There are literally a dozen ways in which a cybercrime can be perpretrated, and you need to know what they ar

1) hacking:In simple words, hacking is an act committed by an intruder by accessing your computer system without your permission.

2)Virus dissemination

Viruses are computer programs that attach themselves to or infect a system or files, and have a tendency to circulate to other computers on a network.

3)Denial-of-Service attack etc

• cyber Ethics:

  Ethicsmeans“What is wrong and What is Right”. It is a set of moral principles that rule the behavior of individuals who use computers. An individual gains knowledge to follow the right behavior, using morals that are also known as ethics. Morals refer to the generally accepted standards of right and wrong in the society. Similarly, in cyber-world, there are certain standards such as

  • Do not use pirated software

  • Do not use unauthorized user accounts

  • Do not steal others’ passwords

  • Do not hack

  The core issues in computer ethics are based on the scenarios arising from the use of internet such as privacy, publication of copyrighted content, unauthorized distribution of digital content and user interaction with web sites, software and related services.

• b) Despite the fact that Ethics enables people correctly organize their actions in life, there are still reasons why humans act unethically. Discuss any five of such reasons.

• =>Examples of Unethical Behavior

• 1)Unethical Behavior Among Individuals:

• Lying to your parents about where you were for the evening.
• Stealing money from the petty cash drawer at work.
• Lying on your resume in order to get a job.
• Talking about a friend behind his back.
• Taking credit for work you did not do.
• Cheating on a school paper by copying it off the Internet.
• Taking $20.00 out of your friend's wallet when he is sleeping.
• Using your position of power at work to sexually harass someone.
• Selling a house and not disclosing known defects to the buyers.
• Selling a car and lying about the vehicle's accident history.

2)Unethical Behavior Among Businesses

• Dumping pollutants into the water supply rather than cleaning up the pollution properly.
• Releasing toxins into the air in levels above what is permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Coercing an injured worker not to report a work injury to workers' compensation by threatening him with the loss of a job or benefits.
• Refusing to give an employee a final paycheck for hours worked after the employee leaves the company.
• Not paying an employee for all of the hours worked.
• Incorrectly classifying an employee as an independent contractor and not as an employee in order to reduce payroll taxes and avoid purchasing unemployment and workers' compensation insurance.

3)Unethical Behavior by Professionals

• Doctors, dentists and lawyers dating their clients.
• Not telling a patient his true diagnosis because the physician didn't know the details of the diagnosis.
• A dentist preforms unnecessary procedures on a patient in order to receive the insurance payment.
• Using a patient as a teaching tool for students for long periods of time without the permission of the patient or patient's family.
• A lawyer will not return money or provide a which was being held for a client.
• A lawyer represents parties on both sides of a legal transaction.

4)Unethical Behavior Among Politicians and the Government

• Using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target groups that you do not like by auditing those groups or refusing to give them tax exempt status.
• Obtaining private tax information about your political opponents from the Internal Revenue Service and using that information in a campaign.
• Knowingly telling lies about your own political position or about the political position of your opponent just to get elected.
• Accepting excess campaign contributions that violate campaign finance laws.
• Using money that was donated to your campaign for personal, non-approved expenses.
• Using your position of power to coerce lobbyists into buying expensive gifts for you and for your wife.
• Secretly spying on U.S. citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment and lying about the spying that is going on.
• Using your position of power to close traffic lanes in order to intentionally create a traffic jam that affects residents of a city because residents in that city are not likely to vote for you in an election.

These are just some of the many different examples of unethical behavior that could occur.

c) There is quite a number of approaches to the study of ethical issues. With clear illustrations, compare two of such approaches.

Approaches to the Study of Ethics

Ethical issues are ones that involve the way things "should be" rather than the way things are. Ethics involve discussions of moral obligations, but do not necessarily hinge on religious overtones.

The first step in discussing ethical issues is to get all the facts. According to Velasquez et al., "some moral issues create controversies simply because we do not bother to check the facts."

There are several approaches that are considered in arriving at ethical solutions to dilemmas.

Utilitarian Approach
"ethical actions are those that provide the greatest balance of good over evil"
In order to take the utilitarian approach, the problem must be analyzed from several different perspectives, and the solutions to each must be contemplated to arrive at the one that favors the greater good.

The Rights Approach
The rights approach is predicated on the notion that humans have the right to choose paths which affect their destiny because they are human. Furthermore, humans are justified in their expectation that their rights should be respected. These rights include the right to the truth, the right of privacy, the right to not be injured, and the right to fulfillment of promises.

Fairness or Justice Approach
The fairness approach assumes that people should be treated equally regardless of their station in life, that is, they should not be subject to discrimination.

Common Good Approach
The common good approach suggests that ethical actions are those that benefit all members of the community.

The Virtue Approach
The virtue approach describes an assumption that there are higher orders of goodness to which man should aspire, and that only moral actions will help us achieve that higher level.

Ethical problem solving involves accumulating all the facts surrounding an issue and considering

• what the possible solutions to the problem are, and what benefits and harms result from each and whom they affect;
• what rights each of the parties to the problems has;
• what solutions to the problem treat all parties equally;
• what course of action promotes the common good;
• and, what actions develop moral virtues.